Fragmented
by indigojasmines
Summary: Harry makes a different choice, and things spiral out of control from there. Disregards large chunks of DH.
1. The Platform

**This is just something I'm working on. im typing this up via my phone, i have no beta, and I'm only about 80% sure where im going with this, plot wise. so. Yeah. I dont own Harry Potter.**

Harry opened his eyes. At first, everything was too blurry too see. His vision was clouded over by a grey-white fog. a hollow feeling burned in his chest as his eyes began to clear. Memories hit him suddenly, a rush of information that set his heart pounding. They'd failed. Bellatrix had retrieved the cup from her vault before they'd even known it existsed. Nagini remained by Voldemort's side. They never even dicovered what the last horcrux could be; their only lead that was it could an unnamed artifact that might have been Ravenclaw's. Or possibly something belonging to Gryffindor. As the panic began to fade, almost as quickly as it had started, Harry took in his surroundings. His was on Platform 9 3/4. It looked like it, anyway. Everything had a sort of pearl iridescent glow to it. Harry tried not to think about the edges of this place he could only catch glimpses of through his peripherals. The fog seemed to swallow all detail near those places.

"Hello, Harry." A voice floated out of the fog. A wash of joy rushed over Harry and he found himself on his feet and jogging to its source. He could see the clear figure that was Albus Dumbledore. Harry felt that grandfatherly sense of love and peace that Albus put off in waves. A year apart suddenly felt like no time at all.

"Headmaster," Harry choked out. Albus held out his arms and Harry didnt hesitate. He ran into the arms of the man who'd been all but a grandfather to him, tears streaming down his face. Albus held him for several long minutes as he cried, letting the boy who'd held the world on his shoulders release all of his pain. Twin trails of tears flowed down hus own face.

"I'm so sorry, Harry."

"We failed. He killed me and we lost and it's over now because he's won." Harry couldn't stop himself. Albus just shook his head.

"It was wrong of me to leave that burden on you and your friends, Harry. " Albus took a step back, looking Harry in the eye, "You shouldnt have had to take on thst task alone. I let my paranoia convince me no one else could be trusted, I tasked a small group of young people with an almost impossible challenge. I had too much confidence in a plan I never discussed with anyone, and was so blinded by my belief in my infallibility, that You payed the ulitmate price. I am sorry, my boy, I failed you. Not the other way around." Harrry looked as thorough he wanted to argue, but Albus held up one hand to silence his protests.

"I'm sorry, but our time here is limited, Harry. We've no time to argue faults or would bes or what ifs. The past is set, but the future is still malleable." He pointed to a black mass steaming and hissing in a far corner Harry hasn't noticed before. It rolled and thrashed but remained still, twisting around its self like a dying snake. " That is a small fragment of Voldemort's soul. It bonded with you that night he lost his human form." Harry looked alarmed by knowledge that he was a horcrux, but Albus pressed on, "Because Voldemort broke the laws of nature itself to ensure his immortality, you now have a choice. I can take that bit of soul with me wgen i board the train to the other side, allowing you to return to the world of the living. You would be given a second chance, a chance to finish Voldemort once and for all, and save the world that has been so unkind to you." Again Harry made to speak, but Albus shook his head to prevent him. "Or, you may board the train with me instead. Your soul would pass on with mine, and Voldemort would almost certainly win the war. You'd be reunited with your loved ones. Your parents. Sirius. They will be waiting for you on the other side, regardless of your choice." Harry couldn't breathe. Part of him knew the right answer. Go back. Save the wizarding world. Force one more piece of Voldemort's soul to the other side so that the monster would be one step closer to mortal. He stood there for several long minutes, waring with himself. Many times, he opened his kouth only to shut it again when the words wouldnt come. Albus just watch, his face clear of judgement.

"I..." Harry finally managed to say, his voice breaking and small, "I want my mum and dad and Sirius," he whispered, sounding every bit the lonely, scared, and tired child he was. Albus placed one arm around his shoulders and nodded.Harry leaned into Albus's embrace, tears of relief and acceptance rolling down his cheeks. He and Albus walked to the edge of the platform and boarded the train. As it moved out of the station, the platform fell away into the void, the screams and howls of the soul shard echoing through the nothing.


	2. Waking Up From Death

**I don't know why it says complete.** **Here's another chapter**.

I heard them screaming at each other before I could open my eyes. A girl, maybe a very young woman, was hysterical. Someone was dead and from what I could make out, I'm quite certain it was my fault. The boy was just angry. Plenty of fault to throw around, but none of it landed on him. I managed to pull my eyes open with some effort, they felt glues together by mud, sweat, and blood. They were teenagers. Filthy ones. Neither looked as though they'd seen a proper bath in months, and the girl had the tell tale gauntness of someone starving. Still, she stood toe to toe with the boy towering over her, his attempts to use his surperior size to intimidate her going unnoticed as she yelled at him. I was somewhat impressed. I made the boy for a Weasley. No one else produced that shade of awful red hair. She was an unknown, bearing no obvious pure blood line triats. She could be a half blood. Her hair was thick with mud, her curls locked in a matted pony tail down her back. I couldnt make out the colour through the grime, but she didnt look related to the Weasley. It was clear at second glance that she was in far worse shape than he was. Her clothes seemed to barely cling to her body, a treatment to their quailty despite their threadbare appearance. Their argument grew louder, and i began to wonder if it was a well advised thing to do. We were in a tiny clearing in a thick forest. It was dark, but I didnt know if that was because of the time of day, or just the mass of trees around us. I sat up, using a tree to support my back. I had planned on saying something cutting to quite them, what i couldn't be sure, but I could improvise something im sure. It proved to be unnecessary as the act of moving alone saw the teens silenced.

"Harry?" the boy croaked. The girl had her hands over her mouth, shock and horror colouring both their faces. Suddenly they were upon me, the girl with her eand out and flicking rappidly aroynd my face. The boy was asking a million question, rapid fire. I ignored him, focusing on her. I didnt hear a word from her, limiting how many of the spell she used that i could recognise. Once her wand stopped she threw her arms around me.

"Oh, Harry." She sobbed. "You were dead" Oh. Well then. "We were so scared, we thought we had lost, that these last 10 months had been for nothing. He...he killed you." I was missing more than one important detail here. I had to be careful. But being dead, however breifly, gave me something of an idea on how to play this.

"D-dead? I... who are you?" I said, pulling away from her. I gave her a look of confusion and fear. She ate it up. Immediatly, her wand was out and flicking back and forth around my head. The boy had less patience than that required, and set about yelling again.

"We're you friends Harry! Ron and Hermione! Been together since first year! How could you forget us?" He sounded personally offened. Maybe he was. He would be right to it if I were this Harry he kept going on about.

"My name is Harry?" It was a dumb question, but it had the effect i was going for. Ron stopped talking again. Breifly.

"Yes! You are! You're Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived! How can you not know this? You're the bloody chosen one! " That answered so many questions. My last memory, october 31st, 1981, was clearly the distant past. The infant potter had won that incounter, and now i held control of his body. Did his death have something to do with it? I had planned on creating my final horcrux that night. Could a horcrux bond with a living vessel?

"Ron! " Hermione cut him off. "Stop. Now. They're going to find us. We need to hide." She stood and helped me to my feet. Every part of me screamed in protest. Death wasn't good for the body, it seemed. Ron looked like he wanted to argue, but he withered under her glare and took me up over his shoulder by my arm. I was well suported between them. Hermione cast a few more spell, disillusioning us and silencing our steps. Her wandless ability truly impressed me. We took off through the forest, my thoughts focused on how to best use these friends of Harry Potter to my advantage.

We only ran for a few minutes before Ron faltered. He threw me to the ground and leaned on his knees.

"Ron! We have to keep moving, they're going to catch up to us!" Hermione had tumbled to the ground with me, and she positioned herslef between Ron and me.

"We're wasting a chance! He doesnt know Harry is alive! We could go back and defeat him now, Harry is our trump card!" Ron said, waving his arms about. My curiosity was getting the better of me.

"Who? Who are we running from?" The best lies were sprinkled with truth. In the grand lie of being Harry Potter, it was true I didnt know who they were so scared of. That level of fear should have been reserved for me. Lord Voldemort.

"He-who-must-not-be-named. The Dark Lord." Hermione answered, through she kept her glare leveled on Ron.

"You beat him as a baby, you're the only one who can beat him now. He doesnt know you're alive, we can get the drop on him and finish him off once and for all." His face said Harry normally went along withhis plans. I didnt get the chance to be startled by the fact there were two of me running around before Hermione was yelling at Ron again.

"What about the other horcruxes, huh? There are still three more of the damned things out there somewhere, and we have no clues as to where!" I was impressed they found any of my horcruxes. That they even knew the word horcrux. "Bellatrix still has the cup, that fucking snake is probably wrapped around that monsters shoulders as we speak, and we have no fucking clue what the last one even is! If we go back there right now, we die. Harry came back once, but who says its anything but a one time deal? We certainly wont get a free do over like that!" Ron opened his mouth to argue, but Hermione silenced him with her wand. "If you want to go back and get yourself killed, fine. Leave. You're good at that. " I smelled abadonment issues.

"I need time." I kept my voice low and small, but they heard me. "Time process all this. I dont... I cant even think. Please." Retreat and regroup. Ron sighed, rubbing his face. Hermione flashed me a small, worried smile.

"Take him to the shack, Hermione. Ward it up, best as you can. Ill try to find anyone i can and meet you there by sunrise. Be careful." Ron was gone before either of us could argue. Hermione pulled me to my feet again and we set off in the direction we'd been heading in before. It was hard going through the woods, and i didnt have time to contemplate my situation as i tried to keep up with her. We reached the gates of Hogwarts, the realization that we'd been in the forbidden forest this whole time hitting me like a punch. I saw a chance to regain some of my power, a smaller one than id usually bet on, but my horcruxes seemed to be on everyone's christmas list this year. I dropped to my knees and grabbed my head as though i were in extreme pain. A mild exaggeration.

"Harry!" She was beside me in a heart beat. "Is it your scar?" She whispered fearfully. I could feel the jagged ridges of a freshly formed scar. It felt recent, the skin soft and slightly swollen like it was only months old. I nodded. She put one hand on the side of my head and pulled me close to her, her other arm going around my back.

"It... hurts. Like it's pulling me back.We have to go back." I needed to get into the castle. My treasure on the 7th floor was by far the best hidden one.

"We can't, Harry, he'll kill us. He's still there." That was better even, i could get my diadem and meet my other self. His portion of soul was clearly large enough to maintain my former status as Dark Lord, so reaborbing it would bring me closer to the power i was used to. This body felt weak and squishy.

"Please..."I tried again. "Its calling me..." Hermione let several tear fall down her face before she shook her head. I could hear the gears turning in her head, but what was she thinking?

"Im so sorry, Harry" I didnt have time to question her words anymore before there was a flash of red light and my world gave way to darkness.


	3. Retreat and Regroup

**Still cant figure out why it says complete. I've tried to change that like a dozen times. Oh well. New chapter for you.**

My eyes snapped open. We weren't in the forest anymore. I was alone on a filthy mattress in a tiny unlight room. I could see the first light of sunrise outside a window someone had tried to clean enough to see through with little success. I could head several voices in the next room, mostly Ron and Hermione yelling at each other again, but I heard others as well. I tried to stand up, but whatever strength id had earlier was gone. My stomach clenched amd growled, making me wonder when the last time this body had even seen food. The room looked like it had been ransacked by a large animal. Bits of fur and broken furniture littered the floor, and the walls had deep gashes along them. Whatever had been locked in here before me was huge, angry, and hopefully not planning on returning. I swore under my breath. Had Hermione actually stunned me? I thought I was supposed to be some mystical chosen one, leader of this little resistance. I managed to prop myself up against the wall, ignoring how badly the wall sagged under my weight. The agrument in the next room went silent and I saw a flash of blue light from under the closed door seperating me from the others. Ron yelped and swore, calling someone named Ginny a number of offense names. Another flash of light, this one a sort of muscus yellow, then the door swung open. A minuscule blonde in Ravenclaw robes blocked my view of the other room. She stood in stark contrast to Ron and Hermione, mostly due to being clean and mostly well fed.

"Good morning, Harry." She said, though i couldnt tell who or what she was looking at. Her eyes were so pale blue, in the dim light they appeared solid white. A Lovegood trait, if my knowledge of blood lines was still of any use.

"Good morning... you." I replied. This seemed to amuse her, as she laughed a tinkling bell like laugh that made my teeth hurt. She moved across the room like her feet barely needed to touch the ground and sat beside me on the mattress.

"Im Luna. You are my friend, Harry. Hermione carried you to the shrieking shack after she stunned you. Its warded pretty well, but it wont last very long. Hermione is very tired and very nearly out of magic by now." Very blunt. I liked her.

"How long was I out? Why didn't anyone revive me?" I was guessing a few hours at the most.

"Almost two days. We tried enerverate a couple times, but you really needed to rest. Dying takes a lot from the body, apparently." Two days. Damn. I ran a hand through my hair. Even dirty as it was, i had very nice hair. thick and soft and distracting enough to throw off my train of thought.

"What are we going to do now?" I was a Dark Lord. I shouldn't have wanted her to say food quite so badly.

"Now that your awake, I guess we can figure that out. Neville and Ron think we should go back to the castle. They think whatever was calling you is important enough to risk it. Hermione is worried that He is just tampering with your mind again. Ginny thinks we should go to the Burrow. Retreat and regroup, as it were." Stunning me made a lot more sense if Harry had a history of being influence by me. I was a master of mind magics.

"I can still feel it. Its a crown. I think." I doubt it would be believable to them that Harry would know a word like Diadem. Regardless, this made Luna pause and stare through me. Suddenly i was concerned she could see that I wasnt really Harry, but the dark lord they worked so tirelessly to defeat. Lovegoods had a touch of the faye in their blood, it wouldnt be too far of a stretch to think she could see souls. Assuming, of course, that she was a lovegood. She smiled dreamily, not really at me, but in my general direction.

"Is he awake?" A tall red haired girl poked her head into the room. Luna nodded and four more teenagers piled into the tiny room. Ron and Hermione took up opposite corners, neither looking at the other. A boy built like a freaking tank came in behind them, a giant fucking sword strapped to his hip. I knew that sword. Id spent years trying to track it down. And there it was, dripping with blood as red as the rubies adoring its hilt. The red haired girl stood next to Ron, making it obvious that they were related. Luna placed her hand on top of mine.

"Neville." She said, pointing to the boy with the sword with her other hand. "Ginny." I made eye contact with the redhead. I got lost in her deep brown eyes, an old echoing song I'd long forgotten floating around in my mind. A barking laugh broke me from my trance .

"He may not remember her name, but Harry is still enraptured by her." Neville laughed again. Ginny turned away, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Ginny is a really pretty name." I said dumbly. It wasnt infatuation i felt for this girl. A man my age wasnt attracted to teen girls. There was something else, something dark about her. She kept her face turned away from me, still a deep red.

"We need a plan." Ron stepped out into the center of the room, a whole step and a half with his long legs. Clearly he thought he was the best suited to take command. "We're tired, we're hungry, and we're on the loosong side of this fight. Two days ago, He-who-must-not-be-named took control of Hogwarts after killing Harry. Hermione and I managed to steal Harry's corpse from the death eaters before they could use him as, well, anything. We got part way through the forest before he just, woke up. From the dead. And we made sure he was dead, too. Now Harry doesnt know who he is, or what we're doing." Ron looked tired. I wondered if any of them had bothered to sleep. Did he have a plan at all, or was this a briefing? "Hermione says that he started having scar pains, that he was trying to go back to the castle."

"Was it a crown or a tiara?" Luna cut in. Ron gave her a dirty look, but I didnt give him a chance to continue.

"Tiara's are smaller and more for women, right?" Luna nodded to me. "Then it was a tiara." Was Harry just dense or did they put my unsure answers down to my recent death? Either way, Luna took control of the group.

"I think it may be the missing Horcrux you all mentioned. Or at least Ravenclaw's diadem. Hermione said He went after founders items to store his soul in, the diadem fits the bill." She stood up, brushing dirt and dust from her robes. It didnt do any good, most of it settled back on her robes immediatly. "It's worth checking out." She said. Ron and Neville agreed, though Hermione hesitated.

"How do we know this isnt another trick, lile the mististry two years ago?" Her voice was soft and tired. She had to be close to her magical limit. There was a chance she'd go past that limit and start pulling on her own life force to power her spells soon.

"Simple. He thinks Harry is dead. Why would he even think to place false thoughts into the head of a dead man?" Luna stated in her dreamy way. The gravity of our situation didnt phase her in the slightest.

"Well, if He was thinking about the diadem, then he must be going after it himself. It isnt safe." Hermione snorted stubbornly.

"Can you still sense it Harry?"Neville asked. I couldn't sense it in the first place. There was a very real chance my other self had already gone and moved it, he had to know these children were chasing my horcruxes. None of that information would get me into the castle though. I closed my eyes and pretended to concentrate.

"It's... still where it was when i saw it before." I pressed my hand to my scar. "I dont think he's moved it." This was believable enough for most of them. Hermione looked as though she wanted to argue, but she lacked the energy to do more than sigh and nod. Luna smiled and put her hand on her chin

"We should split up. Hermione wont make it to tbe castle and back, so one group will get her to the burrow. Or the Rookery, if the Burrow is compromised. Daddy won't mind the company, im sure. At least, he won't once he knows im alive." She paused to think, staring into nothing. "The other group will go up the castle, retrieve the diadem, then rendezvous with the others. We can use the DA coins to stay in touch."

"Me and Neville should go with Harry." Ron said.

"No!" Ginny cut in. Everyone looked at her. She blushed again. "I mean, it should be me and Luna that goes up to the castle. You two would stick out more, Ron has a huge price on his head after all. Neville killed Nagini right in front of Him. You would be spotted in a heart beat. Someone is going to have to carry Hermione anyway. Luna is super gifted at illusion spells, she can hide us in plain sight while we get to the diadem." Sound plan and all, but something told me there was more to it than that. Everyone agreed, though Hermione's vote was more a snore than anything else. As the others began to collect their bearing to move out, neville tossed me a ball of something wrapped in napkins.

"Eat. It's stale, and maybe a little squished, but any food right now means calories you need." He said, gathering Hermione up in his arms. She looked like a small child against his chest like that. I unwrapped a rouround bit of bread with what i hoped was meat stufed inside. I stuffed as much of it in my mouth as i could, barely tasting it as my hunger took over. By the time I'd finished it, everyone else was ready to leave. I made my way to my feet, trembling horribly and holding the wall for support. Ron was digging in the beaded bag on Hermione's hip. He pulled out a thin shimmery piece of fabric and tossed it at me.

"Youre shit at charms harry. Your cloak will be better. Luna can reserve some of her magic that way too." An invisibility cloak. Interesting. Ron and Neville, still holding Hermione, gave us their goodbyes and wishes for good luck, then disaperated. Any wards Hermione had in place came crashing down. Luna and Ginny helped me out the door and we made our way to Hogsmede. I didnt argue, there were many ways into the castle even i didnt know of. Luna cast disillusionment spells over herself and ginny while i got the cloak over my head and body. We sneaked through the village, staying as quiet as possible through the deserted streets. Ginny got the door of Honeydukes open with a well placed spell and before long we were inin an underground tunnel torwards Hogwarts.


	4. Reunited

**Maybe it cause I'm working solely through the mobile app, but i just cannot get it to say incomplete. Also, this isn't a tomXhermione fic. I probably won't have any pairings. I'll figure out these settings eventually. Finally, this may be my last update for a week or so, i burned my hand pretty badly after I got all this typed up. But anyway, chapter time.**

It took us several hours to reach Hogwarts. I had to stop every few minutes to rest, this weak body failing me at every turn. A proper meal would go a long way to fixing this, but I had a growing suspicion that it was poorly cared for by its previous inhabitant. I was sore in places even my former body hadn't ache in, despite being more than fourty years older. It was approaching midday when we came to a short slide. Ginny muttered something I didnt catch and the slide became a set of stairs leading to the backside of a closed door. Luna helped me up the steps as ginny pushed the door open. Climbing oit of the passage way saw us standing before a one eyed witch i remembered from my youth. We were finally in the castle. Third floor, if my memory of Hogwarts wasnt too far outdated. I leaned on the wall, invisibility cloak hanging off my arm. Luna waved her wand around, casting under her breath. I wondered when i could bring up my lack of a wand. Id searched the clothes i was wearing discretely as we'd made our way through the underground passage, but came up empty.

"You should put your cloak back on. We dont know when we'll run into someone, or if they'll be friendly. I doubt He left any of the teachers he couldnt control alive." Ginny said as Luna switch from detection charms to disillusionment charms. Ginny shimmered and melted from my view, but her voice was still clear and close by. "Where do we go from here? Ravenclaw tower?"

"It wouldnt be there. Ravenclaw's have been searching for Rowena's lost diadem for centuries. If it were in the tower, we would have found it by now." Luna's voice was even more etheral when disembodied. She was right, at least partially. The diadem had been in the tower, a top a statue of their house founder. I dont what spells Helena had used to hide the damned thing in plain sight, or why no one had thought to check the obvious places, but I liked to believe that I alone was meant to find it. Helena certainly agreed with me at the time. I needed to steer them torwards the seventh floor.

"I... think we should go up. It's in a large room" No need to play the scar pain card again. They couldnt see me, but they needed to believe I was having another vision. "There are so many lost things there" I let my words drift off. Ginny squeaked, and I dearly wished I could see them to gauge how they were reacting.

"I know where to go." She whispered. "Harry, uncover your hand for a moment. I'm going to lead you." I considered this. I could invite her under the cloak with me, my small stature leaving more than enough room for a second, equally petit person. I decided against it. I might be forced to abandon these girls and continue on my own. I pulled the cloak so only my hand was visible and an invisible hand grabbed it and began to pull. I covered both of our hands with the cloak as best as i could as I was dragged down the hallway.

"Luna," Ginny called back, "The Room pf Requirements." I didnt hear Luna reply, but i assumed she was with us. The castle was empty where we were, but the occasional screams that floated up from the lower floors were proof enough that at least some of my army was still present. We didnt see anyone until the fifth floor. Three boys, all Slythrins judging from their robes, croweded around a hufflepuff girl with dark red hair. She was bleeding profusely from a cut above her eyes. Ginny froze, forcing me to a halt as well.

"Hannah. Why are you still here? Why didnt you leave with the others?" The tallest of the boys demanded of her. His hair was a similar red, so I took him as her family. One of his lackeys looked far too much like Thoros Nott for coincidence. The other was an attractive, dark skinned boy I couldnt place at all.

"Im sorry Conrad. I had to stay. Some of the younger years are still missing. And no one has seen Ginny or Luna since yesterday. They were practially in charge of evacuating the youngest student." She sounded out of breath. Ginny squeezed my hand, and for a moment i feared she would reveal us, but she pulled my hand again and we set off for the next floor. Hopefully Luna was still following, though part of me thought it would be easier to subdue one tiny witch as opposed to two.

Finally, in the corridor with the tapastry of Barnubus the Barmy and his many troll dancers, we found the room of hidden things. I cast off my cloak, and surveyed the hall.

"Where's Luna?" I asked. Ginny came into veiw as the spells on her came off. She was holding a galleon, staring at it edges.

"She'll catch up. She stopped to brief Hannah and Conrad. They were instrumental in getting the smaller kids out of the castle after we had to flee from the room. This room." She pointed to the blank wall in front of us. "Do you-" she paused. She worried her lip with her teeth for a moment then tried again, "You'll have to think about what you're looking for. Walk three times passed this tapastry, concentrate on what you need, and the door should appear." I looked at her. She made it sound as though this room held more than centuries of lost treasures. I'd explore that knowledge at some point in the near future. I took her advice and thought of the room of hidden things. The place where all things lost in Hogwarts would eventually end up. The door rippled into existance on my third pass.

"I'll wait here. Some one needs to keep watch for Luna and Death Eaters. Just hurry" Ginny pushed me to the door. I nodded to her and went inside. The room was as grand as I remembered. Piles of junk as far as the eyes could see. Robes and bools, broken quills, shoes without mates, and most importantly, still perched upon the bust I'd left it on, was the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. My horcrux. I snatched it up, the various spells protecting it acknowledging me as the caster and greeting me warmly. I would have to break it to release my soul from it, but I could deal with that later. For now, I wrapped it into my cloak and headed for the door. I caught sight of a pile of wands on my way out and pocketed more than a few of them. One of them should be a close enough fit for my current purpose.

Out side the room, Luna and Ginny waited. It would have made more sense for them to remain hidden, but at least I didnt have to go lookong for them.

"I got it." I breathed. Ginny smiled and Luna held out her hand.

"Let me see it. We have to destroy it. " I flinched. I didnt expect that. Ginny shook her head.

"Luna, we cant right now. We dont have the sword, and i dont think any of us can control fiendfyre." I could. That wouldnt help right now, though. Luna reached into her robes and pulled out a vial filled with opaque, pale green fluid. Baskilisk venom.

"I stole this from Professor Snape's private storeroom months ago. Just in case. Throw this at a death eater, escape while the venom eates their flesh. It should take care of the horcrux, right?" I didnt have an argument for that, not one that wouldnt raise suspicions anyway. Neither did Ginny, it seemed. Something about the hopeful smile she flashed at Luna felt empty. I reluctantly pulled the diadem out of my cloak. I palmed one of tne wands in my pocket, silently hoping it was a strong enough match to aide me when this all went terribly wrong. Luna placed the diadem on the ground. Ginny came up behind me and grabbed my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I had to force myself not to pull away from her. Luna tipped the vial, letring two fat drops land on it. My horcrux didnt even try to fight back, it already knew I was there. The diadem screamed in agony, splitting in half where the venom ate through the metal. A black mist rose from the ruined articfact. It hovered menacingly for a moment, then charged me. I heard Ginny and Luna scream as it slammed into my head, striking me right in the scar. All at once i felt more complete. Not fully there, but far more so than just mlments ago. The two soul fragments melded together, thoughts and memories colliding in my mind, fighting for dominance. The piece inside the diadem was larger, more whole than the one that had been in the boy. I was less the man of almost 60 years, the leader of the force determined to rule the world, and more the 18 almost 19 year old Tom, freshly scorned by Albus Dumbledore for asking to teach at Hogwarts. I opened my eyes and luna gasped.

"Harry... your eyes... y-you arent harry at all, are you?" She sounded terrified. I smiled.

"No." I didnt have time to get the wand id found leveled at her before she turned and ran. I tried to get to my feet and failed.

"Avada Kadavra." The green light flew over my head and splashed against Luna's back. She crumbled to the floor, her oversized dreamy eyes lifeless. I looked back at Ginny. Her wand arm slowly lowered to her side as she looked me, her eyes filling with tears.

"Tom, is that you?" She whispered.


End file.
